


I'm a Better Actor

by Sashanyabz



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26697097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sashanyabz/pseuds/Sashanyabz
Summary: Damian Wayne felt absolutely stupid, but he was set on winning this bet against his admittedly childish elder brother ... which would explain why he was currently in a taxi in Paris wondering how in the world he managed to lose one of his contact lenses so fast.
Relationships: Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 46
Kudos: 264





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HEY DAMINETTE FANDOMMMM. So this is my first work ever. Constructive criticism is very appreciated. I literally couldn't get this idea out of my head so here we are. Enjoy guys.

Richard Grayson scrutinized his younger, emotionally constipated brother's reactions to the movie they were currently watching. They were the only two brothers partially invested in following the plot of the movie, seeing as Tim had passed out on the floor after pulling several all-nighters prior to their Tuesday brotherly bonding activities. Jason Todd was curled up on the loveseat with ' The Princess Bride' in his hands, actively ignoring the idiotic bickering of his youngest and eldest brother.

" What do you mean by that?!" Dick exclaimed with a hint of mischief creeping up his blue eyes. And Jason, try as he might to stay out of this stupid argument, could sense the very moment Dick's attitude had gone from playful to downright mischievous. He finally placed his book down and looked up at Dick and Damian, a shiver running down his spine at the look on Dick's face. This would not end well for Damian, that much was guaranteed.

Damian, on his part, was lounging casually across the recliner as he absent-mindedly tossed his switchblade in the air and caught it, green eyes now squinting at the television. Jason's eyes widened as he slowly realized that the boy had no idea that he could possibly be walking into a trap, a Grayson-dare.

" Their acting is pathetic, at best. The main lead reacted 3 seconds too early to the arrival of the demon, which should have consequentially given her enough time to get away from it. But she chose to pause at the door and widen her eyes in 'realization' for five seconds? How is this the best movie you could possibly pick out if the actors can't even express fear correctly Grayson?" Damian cut out in genuine confusion.

Dick smirked.

Jason shivered again.

And in his deep sleep, Timothy Drake managed to mumble, " Stop, he's evil." Nobody paid him any mind.

" And how would you know what great acting looks like, Demon Spawn?" Dick drawled, feeling downright giddy. It had been so long since he had issued a Grayson-dare, the last one having resulted in a brawl between a very irritated super-powered Kryptonian and an ancient magical being from a different dimension. Bruce had banned him from his super-dares for precisely two years, thinking that it would be enough time for his eldest to reform and forget about it altogether. The ban ended yesterday. Bruce didn't seem to realize that Dick had been keeping track of the hours left to the end of his sentence from the very moment it was issued.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere in Gotham City on a random rooftop, Batman shivered as he idly tried to put a finger on what exactly he had forgotten.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, back at the Wayne Manor, Damian scoffed as he finally looked over at Grayson. 

"My acting skills are superior to that of these plebians from a tacky horror movie. As is to be expected from one of the greatest warriors from the League of Assassins, Grayson," Damian said with a sniff as he returned his switchblade to its assigned pocket in his signature jacket.

"Really Demon Spawn? You expect me to believe that you know how to act? Give me a break! I bet you can't act for shit!" Grayson said, his smirk showing more teeth than necessary. Damian briefly had the sudden urge to hightail it out of the room and pushed it down, rising to the challenge. He may be a reformed Wayne and may have come to learn the value of other human beings, aside from himself and in turn, ceased taking lives. But he still had the blood of Ra's Al-Ghul flowing through his veins and would be damned if he disrespected his grandfather by forfeiting an obvious challenge!

Jason watched with rapid attention, not daring to interrupt. If Demon Spawn wanted to dig his own grave, who was he to try to dissuade the guy?

Damian scowled, rising to the bait. How could Richard compare his clearly superior acting skills to the pathetic show of half-assed talent they had just watched. No, that just wouldn't do. Hubris effectively awakened, he opened his mouth to retort to his brother.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Batman skidded to a halt and almost fell off the apartment roof he had been running across. Oh No! No! Nononononono-

If asked on a later date, Bruce wouldn't be able to tell you how he made it home in one piece. All he knew was that his eldest son would undoubtedly be on a war-path seeking out the most gullible entities in the vicinity and tricking them into varying degrees of the extremities of the Grayson-dare.  
-  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " I bet that I could act better than those morons in any given situation Grayson, and make you eat your words!" Damian declared.

Dick grinned

Jason's heart stopped as he waited in anticipation-

Timothy shivered on the floor before letting out a particularly loud snore.

"Well then baby bat, why don't we put a wager on it. I bet you wouldn't be able to last two whole months in the city of love acting like a completely normal, meek, unathletic teenaged boy without blowing up and maiming someone."

"And I bet that I will be able to act so convincingly that nobody with a functioning brain cell will be able to recognize me as the ice-prince of Gotham City!" 

" Great. You're heading for France first thing in the morning. Loser has to clean out the Batmobile for a month and gets to be on Riddler watch -out duty," Grayson said as they shook on it-

Bruce, still in his Batman get-up burst into the theatre at that very second shouting out "NO!"

"It is done," Grayson shouted dramatically before falling down and losing to a round of spine chilling cackles that made Damian take one step away from him in genuine worry.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Which would explain how Damian found himself on a plane to Paris with a suitcase full of bland, dark, unprofessional clothing such as hoodies and sweatpants. He shivered a little. But it would only be for two months. Already, he was working on easing his shoulders into a relaxed position other than their ever-present tensed posture. He wore a beanie to cover his prominent widow's peak and tried to adjust to the discomfort of wearing contacts to hide his unique eye colour. He hunched his shoulders, resisting the urge to immediately snap them back to their regal position and raise his head above the people in the plane. Grayson did not half-ass his challenge, and this particular one went against everything he was born and bred to be. Still, he would not allow Grayson to win. So he hunched his shoulders.

His father had been kind enough to sign him into a random school in Paris as a foreign exchange student from America, saying that he would not allow him to miss out on his education for the sake of a Grayson-dare. All his documents stated that he was officially Damian Al-Ghul, which wasn't really a lie, just artful omission. As for the Ice-Prince of Gotham City, everyone knew that he was out visiting relatives from his mother's side (Hopefully his mother would not catch wind of that spur-of-the-moment lie to the press) for the next two months. Victory was within reach and he'd be damned if he let anybody come in his way!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette's point of view. So, Hawkmoth's been defeated, Lila salt because reasons. Marinette can generally sense people's emotions since she now wields both the ladybug and butterfly miraculous (miraculi? miraculouses???). Enjooooy. Oh, constructive criticism is very much appreciated.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has come to love the low hum of her classmates' emotions. The warm, distant, familiar thrum at the back of her mind. She smiles and feels comforted that they're allowing themselves to heal, to _feel_. That they can express themselves without fear of being preyed upon by a narrow-minded hot-headed terrorist. And everyone in Paris knows this as a fact. They're _free_. So why, _why_ , was her new classmate so full of anger yet so demure and shy? Something wasn't adding up.

___After the defeat of Hawkmoth earlier on in the school year and the consequent arrest of Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur, things had been cooling down in Paris. You could tell that Paris' inhabitants were not at all used to the amount of emotional freedom they suddenly acquired after four years. It could be seen in how they tensed when they spotted a harmless little butterfly fluttering through the air, how they often clenched their fists and left moon-shaped scars in the palms of their hands when overcome by a bout of anger. But they were healing. That's all that mattered. And she was proud of them for having the strength to pick their broken pieces and build themselves back up to their former glory. A lot of what she earned from her design commissions went into different therapies all around the city to help those suffering from PTSD. She loved her city and she was ready to help anyone and everyone who stepped foot in it. Of course, there were some wounds that would only be healed by time, and she made sure she was always there for Adrien when he needed to vent, scream, cry. When he needed a shoulder to lean on at 3.a.m. Not to talk, but to bask in each other's presence, often at the top of the Eiffel Tower with the warm glow of the city of lights illuminating their faces. In as much as she was over her embarrassingly huge crush on him, and he had found love in one Kagami Tsurugi, they were both veterans who had each other's backs in the same war. They knew each other, inside and out. And she loved him like she would have loved her brother if she had one. Maybe more._ _ _

___She'd been there for him when most of Paris suspected him to have been involved in his father's hair-brained scheme. When he found out his mum was very much alive but in a magic-induced coma. When said mum woke up after days of pouring through the Tome of the Guardians and finally, _finally finding the right spell. She'd been there for him and he'd promised to be there for her too... but she was Ladybug. She couldn't afford to show weakness. She had to be there for everyone else, be their strength when they were weak. It was ingrained in her during those four years of battle, her personal mantra. And although Tikki disapproved of her methods of coping and had tried to hold 3 interventions so far, Marinette was yet to break.__ _ _

____\-----------------------------------_ _ _ _

____She sat at the back of the class as she usually did, alone. Not for lack of friends, she had plenty of those. Marinette simply preferred this vantage point, from where she could see the whole class easily. Adrien, for one, and she relished watching him laugh at something Nino had said. He looked up at her and they shared a secret smile before he went back to his conversation. Chloe and Kagami sat behind him discussing something in soft tones. Probably plans on starting a new therapy center in another part of town. She expected them to run the newest plans by her, Adrien, and Nino later on. They could add therapy dogs and cats for the little kids..._ _ _ _

____Her eyes glazed over the room as she lost herself in thought. Glancing at her side of the classroom, she took in Lila and her crew. Alya was staring starry-eyed at Lila and randomly projecting large amounts of adoration for her friend. Lila was in the middle of a story and had the attention of her avid followers. Marinette sure hoped Lila thought of taking up acting seriously after high school. Lila was a thorn in her side and still had her claws deeply embedded in some of her unfortunate classmates. Marinette had decided a long time ago to pick her battles and let Lila be. She could spend her energy helping people, rather than plotting the destruction of an attention-seeking liar. All at once, Mme.Bustier walked into the class, garnering their attention. She stood at the open door expectantly and they all watched as a tall boy reluctantly shuffled in. He looked down nervously, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Everyone eyed him curiously and he seemed to lock up and try to curl in on himself. The low thrum of her classmates' emotions coagulated into one swirling mass of potent curiosity. She could also feel warmth (Mme.Bustier) and....irritation?  
_Wait, what???__ _ _ _

____"Goodmorning class. This is our new student Damian Al-Ghul. He's from the United States of America. He is the pioneer student in the Thomas and Martha exchange program that was recently started by Monsieur Wayne, I'm sure you all know of the famous philanthropist, in his plight to reduce cultural stigmatization. Let's give him a warm welcome and help him feel at home. Damian, would you like to introduce yourself?"_ _ _ _

____Damian let out a small huff and took in a steadying breath before forcing his jade green and brown eyes up and onto his classmates. He pushed his glasses further up his nose as his oddly feral eyes darted around the room in a seemingly nervous manner. He readjusted his black beanie before blinking twice and straightening himself out (slightly). "Good morn- Hey- Hello," he stuttered before taking in another gulp of air, " I'm your new classmate, Dami-Damian. I come from Gotham City, USA. I'm honoured to be the first exchange student in the Franco-American alliance against cultural stigmatization. I will be working and interacting with you guys for the next two months, after which you will be joining me back in- back in Gotham to attend school for two months."_ _ _ _

____Damian's olive skin had been heating up over the course of his introduction and his cheeks now glowed a nice rosy colour. His French was oddly perfect with an accent that wasn't quite American (they got enough tourists in Paris to be able to differentiate nationalities according to how they pronounced French words). Marinette's heart went out to the poor guy. She idly wondered why Monsieur Wayne had chosen such a painfully shy person. Briefly, she thought she saw Damian's eye twitch and she felt another burst of annoyance envelop the room before she blinked and he was back to curling in on himself._ _ _ _

____"Alright class, make sure Damian is comfortable and if he has any issues catching up with our syllabus, please help him get set up with a tutor. Damian, you will be exempted from our History and Geography tests but you will be expected to attend the classes," Mme. Bustier said as she motioned for Damian to find a seat for himself. Lila practically pushed Alya out of her seat as she set her sights on the fresh meat. The admittedly cute fresh meat._ _ _ _

____"Damian," Lila began in a voice oozing out false concern, "come sit here. You must be short-sighted, right? Sit by me so that you're closer to the board. I can also help you catch up with us in the syllabus." Her voice was getting progressively sultry towards the end of her offer. Damian bristled and his eyes flashed dangerously for a second before clutching his book bag tightly over his chest and shaking his head, rejecting her offer to the horror/amusement of his new classmates._ _ _ _

____"Thank you....-," he began demurely_ _ _ _

____"Lila." Lila answered the unspoken question._ _ _ _

____"Than- Thank you Lila but I'm actually long-sighted. I'll be able to see the board more clearly from the back of the class," Damian said in a low murmur as he made his way over to Marinette's desk and set his bookbag under the bench, completely missing Lila's indignant expression. He eyed the emergency exit beside the window momentarily before pulling out a black notebook with his name printed in gold on the cover... and proceeding to doodle almost angrily in his notebook for the introductory part of the lesson. His clenched jaw made him seem tensed but he forcefully unclenched it as he muttered something that sounded oddly like 'Graysongraysongrayson' under his breath. Damian eyed everyone but Marinette carefully from his seat, looking almost like he was weighing and cataloging them. As the lesson progressed, Marinette lost herself in the Literature and failed to notice Damian eyeing her discreetly and lightly scoffing before going on with his list._ _ _ _

____As the lesson came to a close she stood up, drawing his attention from his notebook. " Hey Damian, I'm Marinette. If you need help getting to the next class I'll be happy to be your guide."_ _ _ _

____Kagami walked up to them, eyeing Damian strangely as he slowly (subconciously?) stood to his full height, hand twitching towards his bookbag. They eyed each other quizzically for a few protracted seconds before they each broke into satisfied smiles._ _ _ _

____"You are a warrior," Kagami stated at the same time Damian said ,"Kagami-san of the Tsurugi household," almost in awe._ _ _ _

____In as much as Marinette failed to understand whatever powerplay had just gone down at the back of the class, she couldn't help but snort in amusement. Damian? A _warrior?_. She shook her head as she tried to muffle her giggles. The boy was a beanpole swimming in too-large clothes (a black hoodie and baggy jeans) with the general attitude of an almighty meerkat. And it wasn't strange that he knew of Kagami, seeing as she came from a family of Olympic-winning world-class fencers. _ _ _ _

____Marinette grabbed Kagami's hand and started walking over to the door, hollering "Hurry up Damian. You **do not** want to be late for Chemistry. Mme. Mendeleiev will not take it lightly, new student or not," over her shoulder. Damian stood still for a moment before following after them almost soundlessly. On arrival, they took their respective seats as Mme. Mendeleiev handed out their graded test sheets. As Mme.Mendeleiev went on about concepts that flew right over Marinette's and most of her classmates' heads (Max oscillating between frowning in contemplation and nodding at the verge of understanding), Damian flipped his black-cased pen (was everything this boy owned black?) with increasing speed. Soon half of the confused class _and_ Mme. Mendeleiv had taken note of Damian's antics. The confusion in the air welled into raw anticipation as everyone's eyes went back and forth between Damian and Mendeleiev like ping pong balls. Mme.Mendeleiev's irritation rose to a crescendo of poorly concealed rage._ _ _ _

____"Young man at the back. Since you're just so _bored_ with my lesson, since you _already know_ this knowledge, why don't you make your way down here and explain it to us on the whiteboard?" She grit out pointing a single finger at him._ _ _ _

____Damain startled, whipping his head away from the window and staring wide-eyed at Mme.Mendeleiev before allowing his eyes to slowly slide over to the whiteboard. He surveyed the board for a second, gave a sharp nod before slowly standing up and shuffling towards the whiteboard. Alya snickered from the front. The rest of her classmates projected varying degrees of either pity or mirth. Oddly enough Marinette, for the life of her, could not pick up any hints of nervousness coming from Damian. Instead, all she got was a huge mass of mind-numbing boredom.... _What?_...  
That couldn't be right..._ _ _ _

____But Damian wrote out the rest of the concept and the related formulas with a flourish of his wrist in overly neat handwriting, stepped back, hummed to himself for a moment as he looked over his handiwork for mistakes (there were no mistakes!) and set the pen down, satisfied. Everyone was looking at him in a different light, perhaps coming to understand that the boy sent over to their school from the USA was a literal genius. That would certainly explain why he had been bored out of his mind earlier! Even Mme.Mendeleiev looked between Damian and the board a few times before finally breaking into a smile._ _ _ _

____"That's how you do it kids," she announced happily._ _ _ _

____Damian did an awkward shuffle back to his seat and seemed to be trying to merge with his chair as the wonder-filled gazes continued being thrown his way. Luckily, the lunch bell rang a few seconds later, and the class as a whole collectively lost its focus on the lesson. Mme.Mendeleiv still managed to give an assignment amidst the noise before she too went for her lunch break in the teachers' lounge. Marinette noticed Damian trailing after them and decided to welcome him to their little hodgepodge group of friends officially._ _ _ _

____"So Damian, you know Kagami over here, the blond who's practically radiating sunshine is Adrien, that's Chloe- Chloe stop sneering at him! Sorry, she's an acquired taste. So anyway, that's Chloe and this is Nino."_ _ _ _

____"Damian," Kagami deadpanned._ _ _ _

____"Nice to meet you Damian," sunshine boy said with a grin._ _ _ _

____"Hmph!" Chloe harumphed indignantly._ _ _ _

____"Dude, what's up" Nino smiled._ _ _ _

____Damian greeted them all individually before they resumed their walk to the cafeteria. Marinette went to secure them a table near the windows before it got crowded. Opening her purse she gave a thumbs up to both Tikki and Nooroo who were watching a video on her phone. She brought out her hands to cup them both and nuzzled them lovingly against her chest before carefully placing them back in her purse. Tikki looked at her with approval and warmth shining in her eyes. Nooroo was still healing emotionally from being abused for power and mishandled for so long, and after being held at arm's length for the better part of a decade, the poor kwami was touch starved. It was for that reason that Marinette chose to wear the butterfly miraculous along with the ladybug miraculous. To keep Nooroo active, to help him heal, and to restore his faith in both humanity and himself. Nooroo snuggled into her hand happily, making some cooing noises before hopping back into her purse. She gave them one last fond look before closing her purse and resecuring it to her side._ _ _ _

____All at once Marinette felt something moving towards her rapidly. Muscle memory from fighting akuma forced her to lean to her left as her right hand reached out and caught a... frisbee? In the cafeteria? She glanced behind her and was not at all surprised to see Lila Rossi pulling out the waterworks and pointing at her in a way that was all too accusatory. Rolling her eyes, Marinette searched the cafeteria and saw her friends rapidly walking towards her with grim expressions on their faces. Surprisingly, it was Damian who spoke first._ _ _ _

____"Does she do that often?Bully people?Bully **you**?_ _ _ _

____Marinette shrugged before nodding her head in affirmation as she took her food from Chloe with a thankful smile._ _ _ _

____"Prettymuch, yeah. _Liar_ Rossi over there has been bullying Marinette since she first joined our class about four years ago? Yes, four years ago. She spreads the most ridiculous rumours and lies her way out of everything. She's even lied about securing jobs for her little posse over there through her insanely unrealistic connections with about half of the celebrities and public figures around the globe," Chloe answered him, upper lip twisted in disgust._ _ _ _

____After that their conversations mellowed out to safer topics and their general mood shifted to something brighter. Nino was retelling a story involving his brother, a squirrel and a lawn-mower from that time he visited his relatives in Morocco. Chloe had loosened up some and Damian was watching Nino, eyes alight with mirth. She smiled a little at that. Damian would fit right in._ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. So I'm not dead, I'm very much alive, yes. I'm sorry for the hiatus, I had a lot going on this past month. Thanks for your patience. I'll try to have a regular updating schedule from now on.


End file.
